Foam Rolling. We’ve all heard it before and while it has been shown to boos post-workout recovery time and increase metabolic reaction within the muscle, that is only one half of the equation. What if I told you that adding foam rolling to your basic dynamic warmup is also a way of acutely increasing your overall joint Range of Motion (ROM) as well as general flexibility? For years, many medical professionals such as physical therapists and massage therapists have used this technique, referred to as Myofascial Release, to relieve patients who were suffering from tight muscles and decreased ROM (2). Now that the health promotion field is growing increasingly aware of fine tuning the human body, everyone has the luxury of self-myofascial release in the gym, at the field, or even in their own home. Before we go deeper into the benefits, lets look at the basic science behind how foam rolling works.

To spare you an extensive review of neuromuscular anatomy I’ll hit a few key points that are essential to understanding foam rolling and self-myofascial release. There are two types of neural receptors in the skeletal muscle tissue. The first of which is the muscle spindle that is responsible for monitoring muscle fiber length and the rate at which the length is changing. Once that muscle fiber reaches its threshold, it triggers what is called the myotatic stretch reflex which shortens the muscle fiber to prevent damage. The Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO) is in charge of monitoring muscle fiber tension and the rate of tension change causing the muscle to relax at its tension threshold. When targeting a trigger point (knot or kink) in the muscle […]

_______________Athletic Lab is the premier Sport Performance and Fitness Training center in North Carolina. Located in Cary, in the heart of the Triangle, we offer a variety of services including Sport Performance training for developmental to elite athletes, and Performance Fitness training including Cary CrossFit.

Are you one of those people who wish they had more energy at the gym; or the burning tingling sensation during your workout? Well, this is what most people would call some of the effects of pre-workout supplements. Although, these feelings or senses are effects the general population consider pros of pre-workout supplements. The general population, as well as professionals argues over the pros and cons of the effects of taking pre-workout supplements for the gym, performance, or sports in everyday life. Individuals are confused on the true effects of pre-workout supplements usually being influenced by biased commercials or retail personnel opinions. The effects of pre-workout supplements may have a negative impact on individuals’ perception but there are also numerous benefits to these supplements as well.

Pre-workout is essential to many athletes, general population, and body builders today for benefits in different areas of focus. Some of these pre-workouts benefits include things such as mental focus, increased stamina, muscular strength, and muscular endurance. It is important to most people now of days to have that mental focus or drive in the gym to have a successful workout, and this effect can be produced by some pre-workout supplements having a trigger to a person’s stimulus. Many people take the pre-workout supplements because it gives you the extra energy you need or increasing time till muscular fatigue. Another benefit of pre-workout supplements is the increase in muscular strength and endurance. This has been a proven effect to many different individuals whether it be bodybuilders, athletes, or general population. According to a study done by Brandon Bradely on ingesting pre-workout supplement containing caffeine, B-Vitamins, amino acids, […]

_______________Athletic Lab is the premier Sport Performance and Fitness Training center in North Carolina. Located in Cary, in the heart of the Triangle, we offer a variety of services including Sport Performance training for developmental to elite athletes, and Performance Fitness training including Cary CrossFit.

The Athletic Lab Weightlifting Team and Athletic Lab CrossFit Competition Team competed this past weekend at the Athletic Lab Winter Weightlifting Open and the CrossFit Exchange Cold Bowl, respectively. Both teams had strong performances that landed 10 out of 12 athletes on the podium at the end of the day.

_______________Athletic Lab is the premier Sport Performance and Fitness Training center in North Carolina. Located in Cary, in the heart of the Triangle, we offer a variety of services including Sport Performance training for developmental to elite athletes, and Performance Fitness training including Cary CrossFit.

Everyone has experienced it. You have not worked out in a while, and then you decide to back squat, front squat, and do weighted lunges all on the same day. Then the next couple of days, it is impossible to get out of bed and the sight of stairs make you cringe. So, why is it that after some workouts, your muscles feel weaker than ever? What you are experiencing is called delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. DOMS is simply describing the soreness, or pain that you experience after working out. This soreness does not set in directly after a workout. It is a delayed response that can begin to affect your muscles anywhere from 12 to 48 hours after you complete a workout. It typically lasts through a day or two after completing an intense workout. In terms of hours, DOMS can last anywhere from 12 to 72 hours. The muscle soreness originates from microscopic tears in your muscles. This may be alarming to hear, but DOMS is part of the muscle adaptation process and this tearing is necessary to help build muscle. This feeling often deters many individuals who are new to exercise away because DOMS is most commonly experienced when starting a new workout routine. Any movements can cause DOMS, but according to ACSM, there are also certain types of exercises that will increase DOMS. These exercises include strength training movements, walking down a hill, jogging, step aerobics, and jumping activities. Studies have also shown that eccentric movements can have an increased effect on DOMS. Eccentric movements are when the muscle lengthens as it contracts. An example […]

_______________Athletic Lab is the premier Sport Performance and Fitness Training center in North Carolina. Located in Cary, in the heart of the Triangle, we offer a variety of services including Sport Performance training for developmental to elite athletes, and Performance Fitness training including Cary CrossFit.

As soon as you finish a workout of any intensity, your body has been depleted of energy. Scientifically speaking, energy is created to allow the body to perform work by the break down of specific chemical compounds in three macronutrients found in the body. Those macronutrients include carbohydrates (CHO), proteins (PRO) and, to a lesser extent, fats. These macronutrients are broken down into smaller chemical compounds in order to be used as energy. This process is called catabolism (1). This system of releasing and building energy is extensive and complicated, so I will keep things simple.

Your body has now taken these three macronutrients, broken them down and used them to expend energy. Whether it is 30 minutes to an hour and a half later, your body is now lacking in CHO, PRO and fats. It is at this point that you may feel lethargic or tired. More importantly, your muscles have been broken down and in order to complete another workout the muscles require repair. This is an important part to your post workout routine. The body needs to be replenished with nutrients that it lost in order to aid in overall recovery as well as muscle repair.

What do you grab after a completed workout? The most common form of post exercise supplementation is in the form of a beverage. There are so many new products becoming available in order to supplement in your post workout recovery process it can be difficult to decide what you should or shouldn’t take. As stated earlier in this article, carbohydrates, proteins and fats are the three macronutrients broken down in order to release energy. So it would only make sense […]

_______________Athletic Lab is the premier Sport Performance and Fitness Training center in North Carolina. Located in Cary, in the heart of the Triangle, we offer a variety of services including Sport Performance training for developmental to elite athletes, and Performance Fitness training including Cary CrossFit.

One of our scholastic athletes, Felipe Weisheimer, has been making news for his physical dominance on the court. Felipe is a member of the Brasilian Junior National Team and Word of God High School basketball team. Felipe is one of our hardest working athletes and has committed to doing what it takes to be the best he can be. Felipe is a tremendous athlete and a pleasure to have at Athletic Lab. We are proud of his success.

Recently Word of God played Mt. Zion Christian Academy. Both schools have a long track record of producing college and professional basketball players. Here’s what national press and scouting service All Star Preps had to say about the game:
Over the last 20 years or so no 2 teams have set the standard for big time high school hoops in the RDU are like Word of God (WOG) and Mt Zion have. Both teams have put multiple players into the pros and onto D1 college rosters over that time and have a NBA superstar they can lay claim to in Tracey McGrady for Zion and John Wall for WOG. But these are 2 programs on TOTALLY different footing right now as it is WOG that is rolling strong, winning big time games with a roster full of D1 players and Mt Zion, the once undisputed king now just a shadow of what they use to be back in the day. Friday night the 2 teams got into it over at Mt Zion for their homecoming game and with more fans in the gym than I had seen at Zion in some time I was hoping for a good game.

It was a physical game with a lot of back and […]

_______________Athletic Lab is the premier Sport Performance and Fitness Training center in North Carolina. Located in Cary, in the heart of the Triangle, we offer a variety of services including Sport Performance training for developmental to elite athletes, and Performance Fitness training including Cary CrossFit.

It’s cold outside. There’s snow on the ground and ice under that. Local schools are closed for the day. Grocery store shelves have been raided for water, milk and bread. But Athletic Lab is still open.

We opened our doors for business on August 3, 2009 with an uncompromising commitment to provide a world class training experience. Part of that experience is that we are as committed to your success as our athletes are. Two THOUSAND twenty five days have passed since that first day and during that time we’ve only ever closed 11 times (all for Christmas or Easter). We’re open during the snowpacalypse. On Labor Day. Memorial Day. New Year’s Eve. And New Year’s Day. We train when the roof is leaking. We’re open when it’s 100 degrees and the AC breaks down. Thanksgiving Day is typically one of our biggest, most well attended days of the year.

So be safe. But come in and train.

_______________Athletic Lab is the premier Sport Performance and Fitness Training center in North Carolina. Located in Cary, in the heart of the Triangle, we offer a variety of services including Sport Performance training for developmental to elite athletes, and Performance Fitness training including Cary CrossFit.

Foam rolling has become one of the most popular pieces of equipment for both warming up prior to and cooling down upon completion of a workout. Despite the popularity, there has been very little research performed on foam rolling. As a warm up, one study (1) showed no difference in force production between foam rolling and performing a standard plank (designed to simulate supporting one’s bodyweight while foam rolling). Foam rolling does have the advantage, however, in increasing range of motion. Unlike static stretching, foam rolling has been demonstrated to increase range of motion without decreasing force production, making it a viable warm-up tool (2).

When used as a recovery tool, foam there is less certainty as to its’ effectiveness. Declines in performance appear to be minimized in measures such as 30-meter sprint speed, broad jump, and vertical jump for up to 48 hours after a fatiguing exercise bout (3,4). Delayed onset muscle soreness also appears to decrease as a result of foam rolling (3,4). One possible explanation for these attenuations may be linked to improvements in blood flow. The isolated compressed area stimulates decreases arterial stiffness and nitric oxide production (5). Blood flow improvements to the limbs would allow for greater metabolites to reach the muscle thereby hastening recovery.

Now it is time to examine the “how” of foam rolling. Again, there is not enough research to conclude which technique works best. One common technique was to move distal to proximal in small undulating motions for 30 seconds (1,3). Another stated to perform one rolling motion per beat for 50 beats per minute (4). […]

_______________Athletic Lab is the premier Sport Performance and Fitness Training center in North Carolina. Located in Cary, in the heart of the Triangle, we offer a variety of services including Sport Performance training for developmental to elite athletes, and Performance Fitness training including Cary CrossFit.

Although there are many forms of stress or stressors, for the purpose of this blog we will use the following definition. Stress is the body’s reaction to a change. It requires a physical, mental or emotional adjustment or response. We all deal with it whether it be at work, on the road, playing video games, or a horrible day lifting. Stress is a one of those things in life that is inevitable. Not properly managing stress could lead to various health issues such as headaches, high blood pressure, and even obesity (Kolehmainen & Sinha 2014). Studies have shown that sedentary individuals have higher perceived amounts of stress (Sousa et al. 2014). This in part could be due to the fact that stress reduces some individuals urge to be physically active. Also perceived excess of stress has been related to anxiety and depression. With that being said we still have a choice in how we react to stress that is the difference maker. Performing a snatch in front of a crowd of 1,000 people could be stressful for many, but it is under this stress that some of our greatest athletes excel. Learning to manage stress in a positive manner can have a lasting impact on our lives. Kolehmainen et al. 2014 found that some individuals cope with stress by exercising. Although exercise itself is a stressor it has been shown to reduce anxiety, improve mental function and overall reduction of health related illnesses (Deslandes et al. 2009). Given the preceding information we now know that stress is inevitable, but how we react to stress is our choice, and physical activity is a great option. Let’s lift our way past stress […]

_______________Athletic Lab is the premier Sport Performance and Fitness Training center in North Carolina. Located in Cary, in the heart of the Triangle, we offer a variety of services including Sport Performance training for developmental to elite athletes, and Performance Fitness training including Cary CrossFit.

Our minds have a huge capacity in determining our muscles’ success during an exercise. While we all know that muscle movement is initiated by the brain, did you also know you can influence this output by focusing your attention on certain aspects of the movement? Have you noticed when you are trained by a coach they will try to have you focus on certain characteristics of the exercise?

Typically, these attentional cues fall into two categories: Internal cues and external cues. Internal cues place the athlete’s attention on their body movements1. For example, during a squat a coach may say, “squeeze your glutes as your reach the peak of your squat.” With this, we see that internal cues focus the athlete’s attention on the muscle utilized in the movement. External cues, on the other hand, direct the athlete’s attention to the movement’s effect on the environment. Something as simple as “drive the bar up” could be used as an external cue for our squatting scenario. Therefore, external cues tend to point out the goal the exercise wants to accomplish2.

Surprisingly, studies have shown that these cues have different effects on the muscle and its ability to complete the movement. In addition, studies have shown a difference in the type of cues elite athletes use compared to amateurs. My goal in this post is to examine the research, and then discuss how using different types of cues can change the focus of an exercise.

In terms of resistance training, studies point to external focus producing a more efficient neuromuscular system3. Marchant et al. studied the effects external and internal cues had on electromyography (EMG) readings […]

_______________Athletic Lab is the premier Sport Performance and Fitness Training center in North Carolina. Located in Cary, in the heart of the Triangle, we offer a variety of services including Sport Performance training for developmental to elite athletes, and Performance Fitness training including Cary CrossFit.

About Us

Athletic Lab is the premier sport science research & training facility in NC. Led by renowned coach & sport scientist Dr. Mike Young, Athletic Lab works with athletes from middle school to elite professionals using science-based, field-proven sport performance training methods. Our services have been used by the U.S., Chinese & South African Olympic teams as well as pros from the MLS, NFL, MLB & PGA.